Collapsible tube



Jan. 18, 1944.` Q DESKEY 2,339,464

COLLAPS IBLE TUBE Filed Dec. 5, 1940 JNVENTOR o/vALo afs/ffy j NORME?Patented Jan. 18, 1944 COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Donald Deskey, Annandale, N. J.,assignor to Bristol-Myers CompanyVNew York, N. Y., ,a

corporation of Delaware Application December 5,`f194'0,jSerial No.368,567

3 Claims.

'This invention relates to improvements in collapsible vtubes of thetype employed in the packaging of toothpaste, shaving cream, and avariety of other creamy or pasty materials or even liquids or nelydivided solids. It has particular reference `to thin-walled tubes ofthis character which are extruded from soft metals or metals which arerendered soft by appropriate heat treatment, such as tin, lead,aluminum, or the like or mixtures of the same.

' An object of the invention has been to provide a tube of the charactermentioned which is strong and resistant to deformation in the course ofordinary handling but which is readily collapsed in the normal use ofthe same. This object has been attained Without increasing the Wallthickness` of the tube, which would increase its cost, and Withoutinterfering seriously with the desired decoration oi the tube and theapplication thereto of appropriate trade marks or descriptive matter. Infact, the improved tube of the present invention lends itself readily toa wide variety of new decorative schemes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from adetailed description of an illustrative form of the same which will nowbe given in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a collapsible tube constructed inaccordance with the invention, the tube being shown in lled and sealedcondition.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View through the tube along the line2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view partly in longitudinal section along the axis of thetube and partly in side elevation, the tube being shown prior to lling,and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the tube. Referring now to the drawing, thetube may originally be of the type conventionally employed in thepackaging of tooth paste and may comprise a tubular wall i9, ofcylindrical form, extending at its upper end into a relatively rigid,inclined shoulder portion i i, which partially closes the top of thetube, and a neck i2 which is preferably threaded'to receive ascrew-threaded cap I3 that completes the closure of the tube andprovides access to its contents. This tube may be eX- truded in theconventional Way by the action of a punch on a slug oi the appropriatemetal deposited in a recess in a die of suitable construction. In thisWay the Wall IU, shoulder Il and neck I2 may be formed as an integralunit. The threads in the neck are formed in a separate operation byeither rolling or cutting and the lower end of the tube may be trimmedoi in the usual way to any desired length.

The wall It is preferably made quite thin in order to conserve the metalof which the tube is formed and thus keep to a minimum the cost of thetube. A wall thickness of about .003 of an inch may suitably beemployed. Shoulder i i, on the other hand, is considerably thicker, atleastl several times thicker, and may Well be about .025 of an inch.Accordingly, the shoulder will lend considerable stiffness to the upperend of the tube'and will, therefore, resist accidental deformation ofthe tube adjacent its upper end. As will be later explained,the extremelower end of the tube may also'be stiiened substantially by the closingor sealing of the same after the tube has been filled. However, the mainbody of the tube, vintermediate its upper and lower ends, isconsiderably more subject to indentation or deformation. Prior to llingand closing of the tube the entire lower part is unsupported andtherefore easily marred in the course of handling. Thus, when tubes ofthis character are handled vin the course of iinishing and packing thesame prior to lling and are further handled in the course of filling,packing andshipping the same, and sometimes in arranging a display, itis diincult to avoid indenting the thin wall and thus spoiling theneatness and attractiveness of the design on the surface of the tube. Ifthe wall is .indented prior to the printing or other decoratingoperations, these are interfered with.

Accordingly, to overcome these weaknesses and disadvantages of priortubes, the improved tube is provided With corrugations in the Wall IEBover that Apart of its area which is most likely to be deformed, i. e.,the part which is not stiifened and strengthened by the shoulder i l orby other means. The corrugation of the tube, to provide projecting ribportions Il! and intermediate indentations I5, may be accomplished inany of a variety of Ways. Thus, in the course of finishing the tube'after extrusion it may suitably be rolled in contact' with a corrugatedroller or cylinder adapted yto impart the desired conguration'to aselected portion of thetube wall. "The mandrel which supports the tubein the course of this operation may suitably be indented or corrugatedto conform with the corrugations of the cylinder or a slight clearancemay simply be provided between the tube and the supporting mandrel inthe region in which the corrugations are to be formed. The corrugatingoperation may be performed either before or after the tube has beendecorated by coating or printing operations but is preferably performedas early as possible in the manufacture of the finished tube so as to beof maximum benet. If the corrugated portion of the tube is to be coatedor otherwise decorated this should ordinarily be done prior to thecorrugating step.

For the purpose of strengthening and stiftening the tube, thecorrugations might be extended throughout the length of the wall I up tothe shoulder II. However, this would interfere with the application andproper display of the usually desired printed matter I6 indicated inFig. 1. Moreover, it is unnecessary to extend the corrugations to thetop of the tube in view of the previously mentioned stileningeffect ofthe relatively rigid shoulder II. In the vicinity of this shoulder thewall of the tube is equally as stiff and resistant todeformation,`without corrugation, as the lowerr portion of the tube withits corrugation. Ordinarily, it will be found desiraable to extend thecorrugations over the major portion of the length of the tube since thestiffening provided by the shoulder II is not sufficiently effective toresist deformation as far down as the mid-point in the length of thetube. As shown, the upper ends I'I of the corrugations are not more thanabout one-third of the Way down from the shoulder II.

At its lower end the tube may also be provided with a short, smoothsection I8, below the corrugated portion, to facilitate sealing of thetube after it has been filled. It will be understood that in the use ofthe tube, the paste or liquid or the like will be introduced through thelower, fully open end of the tube and the tube will then be closed orsealed in any of the conventional ways. Thus, the portion I8 may bepinched together and folded upon itself several times, in any knownmanner, and then crimped or simply squeezed rmly, or after the foldingoperation a clip I9 may be applied or, if desired, the end of the tubemay simply be pinched together and either soldered or Welded in a knownmanner to effect a seal. In any case, and particularly in the event thata soldered or welded seal is employed, the corrugations may be eX-tended completely to the end of the tube. However, when folding orcrimping of the end is relied upon to seal the tube, the provision ofthe smooth portion I8 is desirable. In fact, the smooth portion I8 maysafely be extended upwardly to a somewhat greater extent than isrequired for the sealing of the tube since the folding and crimping, andparticularly the application of a separate clip, will materially stilenand strengthen the lower end of the tube. Even the pinching andsoldering or welding of the lower end will add some rigidity.Accordingly, provision may be made for the application of printed matterat both ends of the tube, if desired, leaving only a wide band aroundthe midsection of the tube to be corrugated.

While the invention has been disclosed primarily in connection with atube of the conventional tooth paste type, having a neck at its upperend through which the contents of the tube is squeezed as it is to beused, the invention is also applicable to other types of collapsibletubes. It is applicable, for example, to tubes of the types illustratedin the Friden Patents No. 2,112,085 and No. 2,160,963. It is alsoapplicable to containers of the type now available in which the top iscompletely closed by a substantially flat disc, in lieu of the inclinedshoulder II and neck I2, this disc being removed by the thumb nail, orby cutting the tube with a knife or the like, when the contents of thepackage are to be used. In connection with all of these and other typesof collapsible tubes, the provision of corrugations in a region adjacentthe lower or filling end of the tube, or in a, central regionintermediate the two ends, will serve to minimize accidental deformationof the tube in the course of handling the same.

The corrugations employed in the body of the tube may be of a variety ofdifferent forms and spacing. They may be relatively broad and widelyspaced, as shown, or they may be ner, or more closely spaced, orarranged in groups. Normally it is preferable to extend the corrugationslongitudinally but, if desired, they may be arranged in other ways,either transversely or diagonally of the tube, or in a way to formspecial designs or configurations.

While a preferred form of tube has been disclosed in considerable detailand several modiiications have been suggested, it will be understoodthat numerous other Variations may be employed without departing fromthe general principles and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A collapsible, thin metal tube comprising an extruded tubular walland an integrally connected, relatively rigid member at least partial lyclosing one end of the tube formed by said wall, said wall beingcorrugated for the major part of its length to impart stiffness theretobut being smooth adjacent said relatively rigid member to facilitateprinting thereon, the construction being such as to maintain nearlyuniform collapsing characteristics and resistance to deformationsubstantially throughout the length of the tube.

2. A collapsible, thin metal tube comprising an extruded tubular walland an integrally connected, relatively rigid member at least partiallyclosing one end of the tube formed by said wall, said wall being smoothadjacent said member to facilitate printing thereon but being corrugatedover a substantial portion of the length of the tube including itsmid-portion.

3. A collapsible, thin metal tube comprising an extruded tubular walland an integrally con nected, relatively rigid member at least partiallyclosing one end Aof the tube formed by said wall, said wall being smoothadjacent said member to facilitate printing thereon and also adjacentthe opposite end thereof to facilitate sealing the same and beingcorrugated over a substantial part of its length intermediate saidsmooth portions to impart stiffness to the wall.

. DONALD DESKEY.

